50 Best-Selling Writers Who Were Repeatedly Rejected

Even famous, best-selling authors have stories of rejection and heartbreak to share. Here are 50 writers who were repeatedly rejected before they found fame.

Agatha Christie: Agatha Christie had to wait four years for her first book to be published.

Alex Haley: The Roots author wrote every day for eight years before finding success.

Anne Frank: One of the most famous people to live in an attic, Anne Frank’s diary had 15 rejections.

Beatrix Potter: The Tale of Peter Rabbit had to be published by Potter herself.

D.H. Lawrence: Sons and Lovers faced rejection, and D.H. Lawrence didn’t take it well. “Curse the blasted, jelly-boned swines, the slimy, the belly-wriggling invertebrates, the miserable sodding rotters, the flaming sods, the sniveling, dribbling, dithering palsied pulse-less lot that make up England today. They’ve got white of egg in their veins, and their spunk is that watery its a marvel they can breed. They can nothing but frog-spawn — the gibberers! God, how I hate them! God curse them, funkers. God blast them, wish-wash. Exterminate them, slime. I could curse for hours and hours — God help me.” Letter to Edward Garnett, expressing anger that his manuscript for Sons and Lovers was rejected by Heinemann (3 July 1912)

Dr. Seuss: This is a list of all the books that Dr. Seuss’ publisher rejected.

E.E. Cummings: E.E. Cummings named the 14 publishers who rejected No Thanks in the book itself.

Madeline L’Engle: Madeline L’Engle’s masterpiece A Wrinkle in Time faced rejection 26 times before willing the Newberry Medal.

Marcel Proust: Marcel Proust was rejected so much he decided to self-publish. Remembrance of Things Past received this critique from one publisher: “My dear fellow, I may be dead from the neck up, but rack my brains as I may I can’t see why a chap should need thirty pages to describe how he turns over in bed before going to sleep.”

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Laura Ingalls Wilder’s autobiography, written for adults, was rejected for years. Eventually, she used it as the basis to write her famous Little House books for children. Her annotated autobiography was finally published as Pioneer Girl last year and is a fascinating read.

Stephen King was rejected so many times that he threw one of his works in the trash. His wife found it, liked it and made him finish it for her. The subject matter was of a teenager finally getting revenge on the bullies who tormented her in school, and at home, and, in time it became one of his most popular novels, Carrie.